墨突不黔 — “Extremely busy”

墨突不黔 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Extremely busy”. Constantly on the move for work or a cause; too busy to settle down, akin to never allowing one's chimney to be blackened by soot. Literally, “Mozi's chimney not blackened (by soot)”.

Frequency

墨突不黔 Pronunciation and Pinyin

墨突不黔 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
墨	mò	15	black ink or pigment
突	tū	9	sudden break through
不	bù	4	not
黔	qián	16	Guizhou or common people

Example Sentence with 墨突不黔

为了完成这个重要的研究项目，团队成员们这几周墨突不黔，几乎每天都在实验室里忙到深夜。

To complete this important research project, the team members have been constantly on the move these past few weeks, working late into the night in the lab almost every day.

Origin and Story of 墨突不黔

During the Warring States period, the great philosopher Mozi ( ) strongly opposed wars where the strong bullied the weak, advocating for equality and universal love.

He frequently traveled among various vassal states, tirelessly promoting his anti-war philosophy everywhere he went. Because he was constantly on the move, he never had a fixed residence for long.

Ban Gu of the Han Dynasty later commented on his diligence and constant activity, saying: 'Confucius's mat was not warmed, and Mozi's chimney was not blackened (by soot).'